Power. Progress. Prevention. December 21, 2018

December 21, 2018

Federal judge rules ACA unconstitutional

A federal judge ruled last Friday the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is unconstitutional, following a lawsuit filed by 20 states earlier this year. The lawsuit, led by Attorneys General Ken Paxton (TX) and Brad Schimel (WI), argued that since the individual coverage penalty was eliminated by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the rest of the ACA could not be enforced. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor agreed, ruling that the other provisions of the ACA could not stand without the individual mandate.

Following O’Connor’s ruling, 16 states, led by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, announced they would appeal in the 5th Circuit. Xavier and the other attorneys general filed an expedited motion for appeal on Monday evening, asking Judge O’Connor to issue an order that the ACA must be enforced during the appeals process.  

Despite statements from the White House ensuring the ACA will remain in place pending the appeal from the defendants, the Prevent Cancer Foundation^® will continue work with stakeholders to hold Congress and the administration accountable to make sure all patients are covered for the care they need.

Partial government shutdown still a possibility if agreement isn’t reached today

Congress is still deliberating on a bill to provide funding for the federal government through February 8, 2019. The proposed bill includes more than $5 billion in funding requested by the president for a proposed wall on the Mexican border and was approved by House Republicans last night, but it’s unlikely to pass through Senate Democrats when it’s voted on this afternoon.  

If no agreement is reached by midnight, the federal government will be in a partial shutdown through the new year, until after Congress resumes its session on January 3 and can propose a new bill. More than 800,000 federal employees will be furloughed until a spending bill is signed.

New data shows exponential increase in e-cigarette use among middle and high schoolers

A new study released Monday reaffirms the startling trends in e-cigarette use among youth. The data comes from the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s (NIDA) Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey, which has collected data on teen substance use since 1975.  

According to the 2018 data, the number of students who reported using e-cigarettes in the past 30 days increased across the board—by 90 percent among high school seniors, 96 percent among tenth graders and 74 percent among eighth graders. This significant increase across age groups supports recent data from the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS).

The Prevent Cancer Foundation® strongly advocates for new policies and legislation to protect kids and teens from the dangers of e-cigarettes.

To learn more about the survey results, read this press release from NIDA.

Surgeon General issues rare advisory on youth e-cigarette use

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams on Tuesday issued a rare public health advisory about the use of e-cigarettes among kids and teens, in light of the new data from the Monitoring the Future survey. The Surgeon General declared teen vaping an “epidemic,” echoing the comments of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb earlier this year.

The advisory calls on Americans to protect youth from e-cigarettes through coordinated efforts to decrease vaping rates across the country. He encouraged parents, teachers and health care professionals to learn more about e-cigarettes and work to keep them away from youth. The Surgeon General asked states, communities and tribal entities to take action including banning e-cigarette use indoors, taxing e-cigarette products and restricting their availability in stores.

The Prevent Cancer Foundation^® commends the surgeon general for taking a critical step in addressing rising rates of e-cigarette use among young people in America. We support the government’s recent measures to protect kids from nicotine and tobacco products and urge state and local governments to stop these products from getting into the hands of youth.

Read the full advisory here.

Register now for the 2019 Prevent Cancer Advocacy Workshop! 

Registration for the 2019 Prevent Cancer Advocacy Workshop is now open! Join us on Wednesday, April 24, 2019 for a day of engaging conversations about access barriers and economic factors that impact cancer prevention and early detection.

We’ll be announcing more information about speakers in the coming weeks, so keep an eye on your inbox and the Prevent Cancer Foundation^® social media channels.

Register for the 2019 workshop now!